Saturday, 4 February 2012

Young trainee lawyer almost raped in her own room

SINGAPORE - A 22-year-old trainee lawyer was almost raped after an intruder entered her bedroom in the middle of the night, reported The Straits Times (ST).

The horrifying incident happened two weeks ago after the woman, who only wanted to be known as Ms Tan, returned to her Yishun maisonette after a late night out with friends on Saturday.

After taking 15 minutes to wash up, she was in bed and getting ready to sleep.

The man, whom she described as “rather good-looking and well-spoken”, crept up to the edge of her bed and told her that her front door was unlocked.

Before she could scream for help, the intruder, who looked to be in his 20s, lunged forward and covered her mouth with his hand to stifle her, pinning her to the bed with his weight.

Then the intruder tried removing the victim's underwear.

"I tried to kick and scratch but could not penetrate his thick jacket," she said.

This all happened while the victim's parents were fast asleep in the room next to hers.

Finally, the victim hit him with an object from her bedstand.

Caught off guard, the victim managed to break loose from the intruder and screamed.

He then dashed out the front door as her family gave chase. Following that, the family filed a police report.

The authorities confirmed the incident happened on Jan 21 and told ST that they are investigating it.

The intruder, who had been caught, has pleaded guilty to outrage of modesty, according to ST. But no further details about his penalty is available.

Anyone found guilty of assaulting or using criminal force on another person, intending to outrage her modesty, could be jailed for up to two years, caned or fined.

Ms Tan who feels violated personally and that the safety and sanctity of her home and bedroom had been violated as well says she jumps at every sound and shadow. "I haven’t had a good night’s sleep since that night," she said.